Central Scouting on Thursday unveiled its final list of the best skaters and goalkeepers in North America and the best international skaters and goalkeepers.
Left-winger Juraj Slafkovski of Liiga’s TPS, Finland’s top professional league, is number one among international skaters.
Central Scouting held its final meetings with a five-day face-to-face meeting in Toronto in early April and two subsequent video conferences later in the month to finalize its lists.
[Rankings: North American skaters | North American goalies | International skaters | International goalies]
[PDFs: North American skaters | North American goalies | International skaters | International goalies]
The 2022 draft is scheduled to take place at the Bell Center in Montreal, with the first round on July 7 and rounds 2-7 on July 8. The NHL Draft Lottery to determine the first 16 picks in the draft will be on May 10 at NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey (18:30 ET; ESPN, ESPN +, SN, SN NOW, TVAS).
Wright (6 feet, 191 pounds) was eighth in the OHL with 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists) and scored 28 powerplay points (eight goals, 20 assists) in 63 regular season games. The 18-year-old scored eight points (two goals, six assists) in six OHL playoff games.
He played with Don Mills Flyers Minor Midget AAA when he was named Hockey Canada’s Outstanding Player in March 2019 and was selected by Kingston as No. 1 in the OHL 2019 Draft as a 15-year-old. He was named Rookie of the Year in the Canadian Hockey League after scoring 66 points (39 goals, 27 assists) in 58 games in 2019-20.
“I’m someone who wants to win every day,” Wright said in an NHL Draft Class podcast in March. “My way of thinking is not to win titles with goals, it’s not to win the MVP, it’s to win the Stanley Cup. I believe that the way I play, my competitiveness and my drive to win will help. ”
The Logan Cooley Center (5-10, 174) of the U.S. Under-18 Hockey National Team Development Program is number 2 on the North American skater list. The 17-year-old was second in the NTDP with 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) in 51 games. He scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) and 23 shots on goal in six games to help the United States finish second in the IIHF Under-18 World Cup in 2022.
“The margin between the two best prospects in North America [Wright and Cooley] narrows as the season progresses, but almost the same as it was throughout the season, the advantage goes to Shane Wright for our final standings, “said Dan Mar, director of NHL Central Scouting.” Both prospects have NHL qualities and both use their skills. and assets within their own style of play. Shane’s game has a finish, for which he has the innate ability to rise to the level of play needed to achieve results, whether it’s his speed, his extremely fast hockey or just to compete with an approach never given up. “
Graduates of the top five skaters in North America are left winger Cutter Gauthier of the NTDP and center Matthew Savoy and Conor Geeky of Winnipeg in the Western Hockey League.
Gauthier (6-2, 189) climbed three places in the final standings after being No. 6 in the standings in January. The 18-year-old scored 65 points (34 goals, 31 assists) and five goals in 54 games and scored nine points (three goals, six assists) in six games for the United States at the U-18 World Cup.
“As soon as you see him step on the ice, you see an NHL player,” said Central Scouting senior manager David Gregory. “He’s a big, powerful man who has deceptive speed. He’s a very good skater, of course with good hands or strength, and he can really shoot the puck.”
Savoie (5-9, 175) finished seventh in the WHL with 90 points (35 goals, 55 assists) and scored 34 power-play points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 65 games. The 18-year-old scored three points (one goal, two assists) in three WHL playoff games. Geekie (6-3, 196) scored 70 points (24 goals, 46 assists) in 63 regular-season games and scored five points (two goals, three assists) in five WHL playoff games. He turned 18 on Thursday.
“Savoie has great wheels and is a dynamic player,” said John Williams of Central Scouting. “The question that arises for Geekie is what is his ceiling? He has many elements. He is obviously a big kid who can play, thinks well and is smart. His ceiling is really high.”
Slafkowski (6-3, 218), who passed No. 1 from No. 2 in the medium term, was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Still 17 (he turned 18 on March 30) Slafkovsky scored the tournament’s best seven goals in seven games to help Slovakia win the bronze medal, its first Olympic men’s hockey medal. His seven points are tied to the tournament lead, he led Slovakia with 24 shots on goal and an average of 15:50 ice time, although he was the youngest player in the tournament.
“I would say I’m strong with the puck in the offensive zone,” said Slavkovski, who likened his style to downtown Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews. “I use a lot of my size. I can create some good chances for my teammates. These are the things that people can see when I play.
He scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) and averaged 14:11 on the ice in 31 games this season, his first with a TPS. He scored seven points (two goals, five assists), while averaging 15:28 ice time in 18 of the League’s playoffs.
“Slafkovski was exceptional at the Olympics,” said NHL European Scout Director Goran Stubb. “He is a regular on the second line for TPS and plays very well there as well.”
JYP’s right-winger Joachim Kemel (5-11, 171) dropped one place to No. 2 in the international skaters’ final standings. The 18-year-old scored 23 points (15 goals, eight assists) in 39 games with JYP and eight points (six goals, two assists) in five games for Finland’s third place at the U-18 World Cup.
“Kemel is also very good, but his season has been disrupted [a shoulder injury]Said Stubb.
The rest of the top five international skaters are defender Simon Nemek (6-0, 190) of Nitra in the Tipos Extraliga, the highest league in Slovakia; defender David Iricek of Plzen in the Czech Extraliga, the highest division in the Czech Republic; and Marco Casper Center (6-1, 183) of Rogle in the Swedish Hockey League, Sweden’s largest professional men’s league.
The best goalkeeper in North America remains Tyler Brennan of Prince George (WHL). The 18-year-old (6-4, 184) was 11-25-2 with 3.58 goals against average, four disqualifications and a .899 percent save in 39 games. He made it 0-3 with a 1.86 GAA and a 0.954 percent save in four WHL playoff games.
“He’s a good professional, he’s very calm and he’s smart at reading a one-way or back door pass,” said Al Jenson of Central Scouting. “I also like how he comes back to stop throwing and can move the puck properly behind his net. He has very good professional potential.”
Topias Leinonen from the JYP team in the Finnish Youth League is number 1 among international goalkeepers. He was 9-10-0 with a 2.28 GAA and 0.916 percent of saves in 21 games. The 18-year-old (6-4, 214) also played in four games with the JYP in the League this season.
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